Steering means for automobiles.



A. BALLOGO. STEERING MEANS FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLIOATION IILED APR.16.1907.

900,975. Patented Oct. 13, 1908.

" Z/ Jle maBa/Zaaa To all whom it may concern:-

* ungrrizn STATES PATENT orrron ALBERTO BALLOCO', OF TURIN, ITALY, ASSIGNOR TO SOC IETE ANONYME ITALA FABRICA DI AUTOMOBILI, OF TURIN, ITALY.

STEERING} IBIEANS non AUTOMOBILES.

Patented Oct. 13, 1908.

Be it known that 1, ALBERTO BALLOGO, a subject of the King of Italy, residing in Turin, Italy, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Steering Means for Automo iles and the Like, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to certain improvements in steering means forautomobiles and the like, and has for its object to provide a steering means of simple and comparatively inexpensive character wherein means is rovided for lessening and automatlcally ta mg up wear and also for overcoming vibration of the parts so as toles'sen the disagreeable sensation due to such vibration and which is ordinarily imparted to. the hand in steering. -The invention consists in certain novel features and principles of the construction, and combinations and arrangements of the several parts of the improved steering means whereby certain important advantages are attained and the same-is rendered simpler, cheaper and otherwise better ada ted and more'con'venient for use, all as wil be hereinafter fully set forth.

The novel featuresof the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

the device.

In the accompanying drawings which serve to illustrate my invention-Figure 1 is a sectional view taken axially through the rotatory stem of the steering means; Fig. '2 is a lan view of the inclosing casing wherein said rotatory stem is held, Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the im provedsteermg means, and Fig. 4 is a view showing the connections of As shown :in these views, the improved steering means comprises an inclosing casing or shell 1 which may be connected with any desired part of the automobile or other vehicle to which the improved steering means is applied, and wherein is produced a'vertica y extended chamber, open at top and bottom of the casing and arranged to receive the rotatory stem of the steering means, the upper end of which as herein shown carries a handle 3, by means of which said stem'may be turned in steering. The

rotatory stem of the steering means'is provided with a reduced lower end portion 7 which is extended down through an opening at the base of the shell or casing 1, and above said reduced lower end ortion, the said stem has a spherical or bal -l1ke enlargement or head 2 which is arranged to l est and turn freely upon the correspondingly formed concave bottom of a. chambered bushing or lining 8 formedof hardened metal and inserted in the chamber of easing or shell 1 in osition for wearing contact with the bal -like enlargement 2 of the rotatory stem. The bottom of the lining or bushing 8 is centrally ap'ertured for the lower ortion 7 of t e stem, and the u per part0 the chamber or cavity in said buslilng 'or' lining is made in cylindrical form of suflicient diameter for free introduction of the stem therein -to-facilitate the assembling of the parts. Abovethe bushing or lining 8, there is a ring or collar 4 fitted within the upgxassage of the reduced per end or mouth of the chamben or cavity lncasing 1, to close the same around the I upper part of the stem, and said ring orcollar 4 is notched or cut out at one side. as seen at 8 on the drawings, in order to permit of engaging and disengaging the ring or collar 4 u on or from the stem in assembling or taking down the parts or the device. A pin 9, set through the side of the casing serves to retain the ring or collar in position when the parts are assembled.

' The. lower. end of. the casing 1 is provided with a chamber or recess surrounding the lower reduced end of the stem 7, and in said chamber or recess is housed a sprin 6, coiled around said stem with its lower en engaged upon, a washer held by a nut 5 upon the screw-threaded lower end of the stem, the arranglement being such that the stem is elastica y drawn down to hold the spherical enlargement or ball 2 thereof in secure e agement with the correspondingly forme surface at the base of the bushing 8, and to redues to a minimum the vibratlon which is in ordinary constructions transmitted b the handle 8 to the hand of the chauffeur 1n the operation of the automobile. By this construction and arrangement of t e shell or casing with the chambered or recessed lower end portion in position to receive and house the es 'ng 6, the said s ring is effectively inclose and protected against becoming clogged with mud or dirt and is thereby permitted to exert its tension at all'times to hold the spherical enlargement of the stem securely upon the corres ondi ly formed bushing or lining within t e she or casing. Furthermore, the peculiar arrangement and construction of the collar 4 atthe mouth of struction and arrangement of the parts, and

also by reason of the automatic action of the spring in taking up Wear, and it will also be obvious from the above description that the device is susceptible of some modification Without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention and for this reason I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts of the device herein set forth in carrying out my invention in practice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A device of the character described comprising a casing having chambers at opposite ends and having a reduced passage extended between said chambers, a rotatory part held to turn in the casing and having a spherical enlargement arranged Within the chamber at one end of said casing and having a reduced portion extended through said. redueed passage into the chamber at the opposite end of the casing, a spring coiled upon said reduced portion of the rotatory part and housed in the last-mentioned chamber of the casing, a nut on the rotatory part and eneeoers gaged with said spring at the mouth of the chamber wherein said spring is housed, and an anti-friction lining arranged within the first-mentioned chamber of the casing and having its internal surface formed to corre spend with the spherical enlargement oi the rotatory part.

2. A device of the character described comprising a casing having a chamber open at one end thereof and provided with a reduced passage at its opposite end, a rotatory part having a spherical portion within said chamber and provided with a reduced stem extended through the reduced passage, a bushing of hardened metal held in the cham ber of the casing and having a cavity formed to receive the spherical portion of the rotatory part, a spring coiled on the stem of the rotatory art below the reduced passage through W ich the same is extended, a nut on the stem and engaged with the spring, said rotatory part having a reduced portion extended from the mouth of the chamber ol the casing, and a ring fitted in the mouth oi the said chamber at said open end thereof and having a surface adapted for contact upon the spherical enlargement of the rotatory part, said ring being cut away at one side to permit it to be enga ed with or disengaged from the adjacent re' uced portion of the retatory part.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this 22d day of March 1907, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERTO BALLOCO.

Witnesses SEEMOLO Cosrzi, LoUrs ALLAN. 

